Tuesday, October 20, 2009

A study in deceit, part IV

Continuing with our examination of the Reuters video, "Palestinians build settler homes", following narrator Helen Long's serial false assertions, errors of omission, and pro-Palestinian bias, (this within the first 30 seconds of the video), we are introduced to one of the Palestinian laborers: Abu Said. Reuters translates Abu's sentiments for us:

These settlements prevent the formation of a Palestinian state. These settlements are a hurdle in the way of peace. There will never be peace while these settlements exist.

Assuming an accurate translation (perhaps a gamble where Reuters interpreters are involved), we now discover where Reuters gets its notion, averred at the top of the video, that "the building of new Jewish homes in the West Bank has long been a stumbling block to peace". You see, the Palestinians say so, and so it is -- for Reuters.

Abu appears not to ponder and Reuters does not question why Jewish communities in the West Bank "prevent the formation of a Palestinian state" while nearly exclusive Arab/Muslim communities throughout Israel -- dozens of them home to hundreds of thousands of Arab "settlers" -- like Umm al-Fahm and Tira did not prevent the formation of a Jewish state (although of course, not for a lack of trying).

Abu also seems unaware -- and Reuters willingly obliges his naivete -- that between 1964 when the Palestine Liberation Organization was founded, and the end of the war in 1967 when Israel liberated the West Bank from Jordanian occupation, there were no Jewish settlements (and no Jews) in the territory and yet there was no call by Yasser Arafat or other Palestinian leaders for a Palestinian state in the West Bank.

The Arab Palestinian people, expressing themselves by the armed Palestinian revolution, reject all solutions which are substitutes for the total liberation of Palestine and reject all proposals aiming at the liquidation of the Palestinian problem, or its internationalization.

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RMEW* exposes errors, bias, and propaganda in Reuters Middle East Reporting. It is not a "blog" as such but rather an open, public, evidentiary database documenting Reuters' violations of its own Trust Principles, Handbook, and generally accepted standards of professional journalism.

Reuters Fauxtography Faux Pas

Original photo of Gaza flotilla passenger with knife and pool of blood next to injured Israeli marines (as composed by Turkish IHH photographer)

Cropped version of same photo (as published by Reuters)

Reversal of Reality

"International criticism has also focused on a blockade imposed by Israel on Gaza, where conditions have gone from bad to much worse." -- Reuters reporter Tom Perry

Failure to Fact-Check

"The decline in infant mortality [in Gaza], which has occurred steadily over recent decades, has stalled in the last few years." -- Reuters quoting Max Gaylard, UN Humanitarian Coordinator for the Palestinian territories

Parroting Racist Propaganda

"Palestinians widely believe Israel aims to 'Judaise' the city [Jerusalem], pushing out Arabs and expanding the Jewish population and construction." -- Reuters reporter Tom Perry

Inanimate objects take on a life of their own

"In Sunday's incident [Israeli] police fired tear gas and stun grenades at hundreds of Palestinians who had gathered in anticipation of such a move by groups associated with Jewish settlers in the West Bank. Stones, chairs and other objects hit police." -- (former) Reuters Bureau Chief Alastair Macdonald

Reuters Fauxtography Faux Pas

This Reuters photograph shows blatant evidence of manipulation. Notice the repeating patterns in the smoke; this is almost certainly caused by using the Photoshop "clone" tool to add more smoke to the image -- Little Green Footballs